A Hodgepodge of things.......

Hi everyone! To start out with today, here is an interview with Gerald Celente, trends forecaster. Boy, he doesn't mince words when it comes to his predictions! He's still predicting a crash in 2010, and he's not one to ignore! Don't grow weary in your prepping, folks. This is not the time to give up! (Who is Gerald Celente? Here is a small sample of the over 300 'trends' that he has forecasted and seen come to pass.)

How have you added to your preps lately? Thanks to some great deals at our local grocery, I've added quite a bit to ours. I've gotten jars of pasta sauce, boxes of cereal, 16 'dinged' jars of fruit (I was needing to beef up my canned fruits selection), rice, water, discounted boxes of brownie mix (don't forget to add yummy sweets to your preps), and fruit snacks (more sweets). I also found bananas on a great sale, so I picked up a few pounds that'll go in the dehydrator tomorrow. I've been able to give away plenty of pasta sauce, toothpaste, shampoo/conditioner, and cereal to help boost a few others' preps as well. All in all, my food preps have grown significantly in the past few weeks!

All that prepping poses storage 'problems', so I'm working on making a new 'first-in, first-out' shelving to hold store bought cans. I'm very excited and will show you when it's completed.

So, have you started some seedlings for your garden? I have, and they're coming up beautifully! I'm going to start a few more seeds this weekend. There's such excitement and promise in those little seeds poking through the dirt! It makes me giddy! :)


If you're able to have a clothesline where you live, I'd encourage you to consider using one. Hanging your laundry is a great way to save money and extend the life of your dryer. Laundry off the line is so clean and fresh-smelling! Nothing out of a bottle can come close to it! Hanging-laundry is not only a beautiful sight to see, but in some way it causes you to slow down and be connected to what you're doing. You have to plan ahead, watch the weather, stay attentive. But, it's all to great advantage.

Prep On!
Gen-IL Homesteader

May I rant for a moment?

I hope you don't mind, but something is really annoying me and I just want to get it off of my chest!

So, hubby and I had a wonderful time visiting with our son in FL last week. Everything about the trip went smoothly, until we landed in Milwaukee airport. We picked up our suitcase and there was a plastic zip-tie holding the two ends of our zipper together. 'Hmmm', we thought. 'That's strange'. But, we were excited to see our daughter and son-in-law, so we loaded the case and jumped in the truck. When we got home, hubby broke the tie and opened the suitcase. There inside, we found a piece of paper, part of which is pictured above. The paper informed us that our baggage had been one of many that were randomly checked by the TSA, to protect us and our fellow passengers.

Um, excuse me? So, my baggage was rifled through without my knowledge, by some who-knows-who? You know, this is what happens when we (including myself here) put up with practically stripping down to our skivvies to have to walk through airport scanners. This is what comes from us putting up with small infringements on our rights. The TSA doesn't believe in the 4th Amendment which protects "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures," If the airline themselves wanted to look through my baggage, that would be their right. They own the planes that I'm about to fly on. They have a vested interest in protecting their goods. The government, as far as I'm concerned, has no interest in it and should be concerned only about protecting my rights. They are prohibited, by the Constitution, from rifling through my baggage (unless I was suspected of wrongdoing and a warrant was obtained).Obviously, we know our rights are of no concern to most in govt, but this is one more way they showed it.

When hubby and I went to Jamaica years ago, the airport (don't know if it was govt or not) chose random folks and went through their baggage IN FRONT OF THEM. They didn't do it secretly in some backroom, and then leave a note after the fact informing the baggage owner. At the very least, the TSA should have the common courtesy to handle things the way they were handled in Jamaica. (Even though I still believe it's not the govt's job to do it.)

I see this whole situation as another proof of the whittling away of our rights, the silent erosion that is happening which will one day lead us to serfdom or revolution. This whole thing annoys me to no end, and I'm planning on expressing my views to our elected officials and the TSA. (I know, they don't care. But, I have to do something!)

End of rant. On to better things.....Our house sitter didn't finish the milk that was in the fridge, so it got dumped because it was outdated. I washed it out and now have one more greenhouse for my spring planting! Woo-Hoo! We ran to the 'big box building store' today and I bought a few more of the garden seeds I needed. (They were on sale, too!) I think I'm finally set. All the seeds, except one package, are in the freezer so that I can test Upinak's theory (AK Preppers). I'll leave the seeds in the freezer for another week, then take them out for a few days, and then start some things under lights! Oh, I can't wait!! I've got a number of extra seed packets for future years, and will go and get even more. Seeds are one thing you don't want to be without!

Prep on!
Gen-IL Homesteader